When Justice League hit theatres in 2017, I'll admit that Ezra Miller's rendition of The Flash wasn't my favourite, but his version grew on me over the years. The DC films in the last ten years have been hit or miss though. You could never tell if a film was going to be good or not. Well, hearing everything that could happen in DC's latest release, The Flash, I had to see it for myself. I'm happy to report that after seeing it and sitting on my thoughts for a couple of days, I can confidently say that this is one of DC's better films in the last 5-10 years and the emotional core packs a great punch.
Having lost his mom in the past, Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) decides to use his super speed to run back in time to prevent her death and prevent his father from being wrongfully accused of her murder. In doing so, he ends up in another reality where he meets another version of himself, another version of Batman, and another version of an alien from Krypton. Also returning is the villain Zod, from the film Man of Steel. This was a fun ride to take and the action is great, but the storyline involving his mom is what worked the most for me and brought me to tears by the end. If for nothing else, the writers cared very much about the mother-son relationship.
Everyone seems to be talking about how awful the CGI is as well, but I personally found certain sequences were meant to feel like an animation instead of looking realistic. Maybe that's just me, but I was able to forgive most of the effects because I felt that way. Still, I do agree some more polishing may have been needed. Still, the CGI did not take me out of the movie as some critics have been stating. In fact, without giving anything away, certain elements needed CGI that could only be done so well in the first place, so I gave them a bit of a pass. The furthest thing to think about when talking about this film is the visual effects though, so let's move on.
I must say, yes it was cool to see Michael Keaton with the cape and cowl once again, but with all the cameos sprinkled throughout this film, I am starting to think I'll miss this world a bit as they get moving in another direction with DC. Although funny, this film felt most like Man of Steel in terms of care and effort being put into the story and tone. This film set out to be an emotional story before being a fan service fest, which I appreciated. All the cameos throughout the film just felt like the icing on the cake.
The Flash is a film that I pretty much had no expectations for so I am surprised how much I enjoyed it. Ezra Miller carries this film with a very solid performance, Andy Muschietti delivered as director, and Christina Hodson and Joby Harold truly wrote a compelling story arc for Barry Allen. Does the film get a little much by the end and overstay its welcome in terms of bombastic visuals? Maybe, but if I'm going to nitpick that, then I have a lot of things to nitpick as well, but none of them really bothered me. I was here for a good time and I got a little more than just that, which put a big old smile on my face. If you're thinking you're interested at all based on what you've seen so far, I think you'll like this one. I recommend it.
